


Moments: Bandages (Home)

by haganenoheichou



Series: Moments (Eruri Week 2014) [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Day Three: Home/Domestic, Eruri Week, Eruri Week 2014, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 19:01:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3083741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haganenoheichou/pseuds/haganenoheichou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day Three of Eruri Week 2014: Domestic/Home</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moments: Bandages (Home)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the reviews on the previous stories, I am enjoying Eruri Week so very much!

“All right, you two. Clear out. Now.”

Hanji and Mike spun around on their heels to see Levi at the door, clad in his usual at-home getup of uniform-minus-jacket-plus-handkerchief over his mouth. As the Corporal strode into the room, his expression set, even harder to read given that half of his face was covered with white cotton, the two soldiers stepped aside from the bed to reveal a semi-conscious Commander Erwin beneath the covers, his chest rising and falling rapidly as his labored breathing wheezed in and out of his lungs. Levi sat down onto the side of the bed, a wad of fresh bandages dangling off his elbow. He turned a sharp eye towards the other two in the room. “Did I fucking stutter? Out.”

Mike gave him an unreadable look before grabbing a protesting Hanji by the shoulder and pushing her out the door.

“Take care,” he said quietly as he placed his hand onto the door handle.

“Will do.” Levi nodded before turning back to his Commander. With a hiss, almost as if he were in pain himself, he peeled away the covers to reveal the stump of Erwin’s arm. His fingers almost faltered as he numbly undid the knot in the blooded bandages. As he worked his way around the arm carefully, he sighed. “You are horrible at faking unconsciousness.”

“You wound me,” Erwin replied, his eyes suddenly wide open and alert, though his breathing remained shallow. Levi knew that the man was still in pain, he would be for the rest of his life, to some extent. The thought did not sit well with the Corporal.

“No, a Titan did,” he replied dryly as he slowly took the old bandages off the stump.

“You are hilarious.”

“Don’t tell anyone, I secretly have a sense of humor.” Levi bunched the bloodied cotton in his hand before discarding it onto the bedside table, disgust painting his features. He resisted the urge to run to the bathroom and wash his hands anew, and instead reached for the antiseptic balm Hanji had left in the drawer, to disinfect the healing mess of a wound before wrapping it up again. He could see that the inflammation had receded, and that he was thankful for, as he had never been one to stand looking at rotting things. “This will probably hurt like a bitch, bear with me.”

Erwin said nothing as Levi gently put the balm onto the stump, even though the Corporal knew the pain to be near-astronomical. The Corporal reached for the new bandages and slowly started wrapping the remnants of Erwin’s arm. He almost felt like humming, the movement was so familiar. Every day, at three o’clock on the dot, he would come into Erwin’s quarters to kick Mike and Hanji out and change Erwin’s bandages. Though it had only been a couple of days, the routine felt so normal that he was starting to hate the fact that he was no longer shocked by the sight of Erwin’s absent arm.

“Did I miss anything important?” Erwin asked quietly, no doubt to distract himself from the sting. Levi shrugged as he worked the bandage around Erwin’s shoulder, fixing it in place to carry on wrapping it around the rest of Erwin’s mutilated stump.

“Jäger and Kirschtein fought again. I think Horse-face dared insult Mikasa Ackerman’s honor by implying he would be a better candidate for… copulation, which apparently Jäger is not all right with, even though the girl can probably defend herself better than him. Scratch that, she definitely can.”

“She is quite extraordinary, isn’t she?” Erwin asked thoughtfully. “Though she’ll never be as remarkable as you.”

“Shut up,” Levi muttered. He was still uncomfortable with Erwin’s praise, feeling like he didn’t quite deserve it. After all, he had not initially been taken in by the Survey Corps on account of his so-called talent with the Maneuvering Gear. He had been a charity case long before he’d been allowed any contact with the equipment, and only then had he been allowed to start working for the bread he had been eating off Erwin’s table.

“You know it’s true. You’re a wonderful flyer, Levi.”

Levi refused to meet Erwin’s gaze for the fear of the affection he would see there.

“Nonsense. I am just doing my job.”

“Does this job include being my nursemaid?”

“Fuck, Erwin!” Levi lowered his hands, stopping his work but refusing to let go of the bandages. “What do you expect me to say? That I don’t trust anyone near that fucking arm of yours? That whenever I am outside of this room, I’m fucking worried you’ll drop dead on me? Because that’s how things really are, so you better shut up and take this for what it is. Whatever it is.”

He continued with his work as Erwin said nothing, tying off the bandage and cutting off the loose threads. He sat on the side of his Commander’s bed quietly, his eyes never leaving his handiwork. “This is becoming a habit of mine. I feel like I know every fucking curve of that wound.”

“Levi–,”

“Just… don’t. I’m glad to do it. Makes it feel more real, you know?”

“Makes what feel more real?” Erwin asked quietly, his eyes glinting in the sunlight as it peaked through his window.

“Having someone to care for. Having a home.”

Erwin let out a breath.

“You know this has always been your home.”

“It’s not home until you have responsibilities,” Levi replied shortly. “And people to look after.”

“You look after the recruits. You have… you had your squad,” Erwin said quietly. “This is your home.”

“I still feel like a bloody moocher.”

“Stop it. Do you want a formal examination into the Survey Corps? Do you want to be evaluated on your technique and your ethics? Because we both know you’ll fail miserably at that,” Erwin pointed out. Levi glared at him.

“I have ethics.”

“Right. And I have two arms.” Levi barked out a bitter laugh, his shoulder shaking a little too much for a humorous reaction. “Look, whatever you feel like, this is your home. And it’s mine. And we’re making it. All of us.”

“Save the ‘we’re all family here’ speech for the likes of Jäger, I don’t buy it.”

“You should. Because that is the way I feel about everyone here, including you, Levi.”

“Families have nasty habits of dying and leaving.” Levi turned to look out of the window, his fingers playing with his shirt sleeve. He briefly wondered whether Erwin would let him remodel his shirts for him, to accommodate the stump. He could use the spare cloth for rags.

“Then we’re even more of a family than I thought,” Erwin said, a small smile playing on his lips. “Do you have anything to do today?”

“Not really.” Levi shrugged. He had already scrubbed the headquarters top to bottom seven times within the past few days, his knuckles were getting sore. He lowered his handkerchief to place it around his neck.

“Then stay here and help me embellish the story of how I lost my arm to five Titans.”

“I thought it was only one Titan.”

“No, it was definitely five.”

“You are such an idiot.”

**Author's Note:**

> Drop me a line at http://hellofaheichou.tumblr.com if you wanna :)


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